On November 17, Ms. Marja Mills – author of The Mockingbird Next Door and a very close friend to Harper Lee, author of one of the greatest American novels ever written, To Kill a Mockingbird – came to Benjamin to talk about her book and her friendship with Lee. The seventh graders are currently reading The Mockingbird Next Door for their English classes, and the eighth graders had to read it over the summer. Mills’ book chronicles her friendship with Lee which developed after Mills went to Monroeville, Alabama to interview the reclusive author. Not only did she get her interview, but she eventually moved next door to Lee and her older sister, Alice. Soon, Mills was watching football games, going fishing, and sharing meals with the Lee sisters and their friends.

Mills, a product of Madison, Wisconsin, graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1985 where she mined her love for foreign cultures. She is most famous for writing The Mockingbird Next Door, but she also spent time as a reporter for The Chicago Tribune where she was part of the team of journalists that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for its work on Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, titled “Gateway to Gridlock.”

In honor of Mills’ visit, the seventh-grade students devoted part of their day to creating presentations based on different facets of Mill’s book. To showcase their knowledge, the seventh graders broke up into 11 different teams which were about four to six students each. Some of the topics included how Harper Lee shied away from the fame from her novel, the casting of the the To Kill A Mockingbird movie, and Lee’s help with Truman Capote’s research and interviews in relation to his novel In Cold Blood. All groups used Google Slides presentations to prove their point. Each team then gave their presentations twice to either a sixth and/or eighth-grade advisory group which was assigned to the team’s classroom.

Mills, accompanied by her mother, Carla, walked around to see parts of each presentation. The students in the sixth and eighth-grade advisories had to fill out a paper based on how they thought the seventh graders did, and also had to list what they learned from the presentations. “I learned the reason that Harper Lee was very closed off [was] because all of these people were crowding her and she just wanted to live her life, and she didn’t want all the fame,” said eighth grader Danai Makoni. “I had the opportunity to see a few conferences from different classes and I think that Ms. Mill’s comments said it all,” said middle school English teacher Mr. Nathan Ginnetty. “She was really impressed with what she heard [from the seventh-grade teams]. She specifically had things to say about tons of groups. I think that’s indicative of the success all around.”

Along with the seventh grade-conferences, there was a potluck dinner outside the library that evening. Since Mills’ book largely took place in Alabama, each student brought a southern dish to share. The amount of food was staggering, and there were even awards handed out: best appetizer went to lower school French teacher Mrs. Lisa Arline who made a delicious corn bread. The best entree came courtesy of eighth grader Colton Pfleegor who made “Boo Stew,” and the best dessert went to seventh grader Eden Josza who made a lane cake. Lane cake, also known as ‘prize cake’ or ‘Alabama lane cake,’ is a traditionally Southern cake made with bourbon.

While the students heard Mills address them in the Barker Performing Arts Center during the day and after dinner in the evening, some students were not impressed with Mills’ talks. “To be 100% honest, [her talk after dinner] was exactly the same as the [afternoon] assembly,” said seventh grader Matthew Postman. “She did give us some more information, but it was almost the same.”

Although some information may have been repetitive, it was still exciting for students to hear from an author whose book they had read or were reading, and it made The Mockingbird Next Door that much more meaningful. “She’s a famous writer and it’s not very common for a writer that interesting to come to a school and speak, so we were very lucky and really enjoyed this experience,” said seventh grader Caroline Yancey.